Page 24 of Pursued by the Player

"Sounds like a nice childhood."

Jett cleared his throat as Papi gave them their hot dogs. "We did the best we could, darlin'. Most of those kids were too broken when they came to us. Beyond repair. Some of them, though. . ." he waved his hand at Jett. "Some of them made us proud."

"It was nothin’.'"

"No boy. You're really something."

Jett felt the heat rise to his cheeks and decided to focus on his hot dog.

"What else can you tell me about Jett's childhood?"

Jett tried to remain calm and not choke on his food as Papi relayed story after story about how he had gotten in trouble as a kid. Mel laughed at how Jett had rigged a bucket of water over the entrance to the orphanage to fall on the staff as they came into work, but how a malfunction caused it to drop on him instead. She grinned at his dressing up as Spiderman and snorted when she heard about how he would try to con the other kids out of their desserts. The stories were rather embarrassing, but she didn't seem repulsed by them like he thought she would be. Instead, she seemed . . . happy. Watching her smile made him happy, and before long, Jett found himself joining in and telling stories, too.

"The best part was always the yearly field trip to a baseball game," Papi said. "The other kids just wanted to eat peanuts and popcorn and run around the stadium, but Jett." he grinned as his eyes fogged over with memory. "Jett would stare wide-eyed at the game." He let out a sigh of contentment. "He wanted to know everything about the game, and I decided that it was time to teach him how to play."

"That's amazing."

"the boy was relentless, eager to learn all of the rules and statistics." Papi leaned in close to Mel. "He'd be outside practicing his pitching well past curfew."

"Did he ever get in trouble?" Mel asked as she glanced at Jett.

"Not really," Jett said. "I had someone covering for me."

"Damn straight," Papi said, grinning.

Jett wiped his mouth. "Thanks so much for the dogs." He reached for his wallet.

"Oh no. Your money’s no good here, boy."

"Come on, Papi."

"No." he held up his hands. "No, you're my boy, even if you aren't my blood and family is family. It's on the house."

"Thank you," Mel said, standing. "This has been very . . . enlightening."

"Glad I could help." Papi winked. "Come back anytime. Just make sure you bring that big lug with you."

"Bye Papi." Jett gave him a quick hug over the counter as tears stung in his eyes. When he pulled away, he noticed that the big man's eyes were all red and puffy.

"Don't be a stranger now, you hear?"

"I won't be." He put his arm around Melody. "Night."

Melody was strangely quiet as they made their way across the street and toward the stadium. Jett thought about saying something, but he didn't know what.

"I'm sorry," he finally said as he opened the side door to the stadium and slipped inside.

"For what?"

Jett waved to a group of stadium workers, finishing up their shift. "We'll just be a minute."

They waved him on, and Jett led her to the elevators.

"Sorry for what?" Mel asked again as they got into the elevator.

Jett hit the button for the second floor. "For the visit. It obviously upset you. . ."

"Don't be silly. Of course it didn't upset me."

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